Paper feeding means for accounting machines and the like



March 3, 1942. 2,274,834

PAPER FEEDINGMEANS FOR ACQOUNTING MACHINES AND THE LIKE c. J. IRA

Filed Nov.. '19, 1938 Clarence Ira Inventor M M His Attorney s afterwhich closing the Patented Mar. 3, 1942 UNITED STATES. PATENT OFFICE2,214,834 PAPER FEEDING MEANS FOR ACCOUNTING MACHINES AND THE LIKEClarence J. Ira, Portland, oreg assignor to The National Cash RegisterCompany, Dayton, Ohio, a corporation of Maryland Application November19, 1938, Serial No. 241,324 1 4 Claims. (01. 191 -133) This inventionrelates to accounting, bookkeeping and analogous machines and isdirected particularly to the paper feeding mechanisms of such machines.

Many of the accounting machines used in present-day business systems areequipped with a laterally shiftable traveling carriage, similar to' thatused on typewriters, for presenting various types of record material tothe printing means. Ofter the platen rolls of the traveling carriages ofthe machines referred to above, are revolved automatically each machineoperation to linespace the material wound there around. Many businesssystems involve the use of a long Journal sheet or a tally strip, uponwhich is printed all the entries for a certain business period; forexample, in the case of auditing checking accounts by a bank, thisperiod is usually one day.

ator and slow up the output of the machine, which in most cases isexpected to turn out a predetermined quantity of work during a certain.

business period. I

With the foregoing brief explanation in mind, it is broadly an object ofthis invention to provide means for improving the .paper feedingmechanisms of machines of the type referred to above,

so that work sheets or other long strips of'rec- 'ord material will 'beaccurately fed thereby.

A more specific object is the provision ofmeans for rotatively urgingthe pressure rollers Under conditions of this kind, the Journal sheet.or tally strip remains in the machine during the entire run, whilenumerous ledger sheets or statement slips are being posted.

In order to facilitate the insertion and removal of the ledger sheetsand statement slips, the traveling carriage is often of the frontfeed orautomatic throat opening type,'in which the platen roll is'moved fromprinting position to front feeding position and the main pressurerollers are moved out of engagement with said platen roll to effect whatis termed opening of the throat." When the-throat is open ledger sheetsor statement slips-may be inserted at the front .of the platen .andpushed directly to proper position, which is determined by a linefinding device, throat returns the platen to printing position andcauses the main pressure rollers to engage the ledger or statement slipsandhold them in contact with the platen roll.

As previously stated, the Journal sheets or'tally strips remain in themachine during a complete run, and are retained in contact with theplaten roll, when the throat is auxiliary or overhanging pressurerollers, which remain in contact with the platen roll at all times,except when a filled Journal sheet is being removed from the machine anda new one inserted therein. Quite often unequal pressure of the pressurerollers, irregularities ln'the journal sheet or-defects in the platenroll may cause said Journal sheet to run askew during the course of aprotracted run. likewise continued releasing of the paper feeding deviceat a greater speed than the surface speed of the platen roll, so thatthere will be a constant'pull upon the record material fed thereby, toeffect accurate feeding of said recordmaterial.

Another object of this invention is to provide means to frictionallyconnect the pressure rollers of a paper feeding device to the shaftwhich sum ports them and to in turn operatively connect said shaft tothe platen roll so that revolution thereof will cause said pressurerollers to tend to revolve at a'speed greater than the surface speed ofsaid platen roll to insure the proper feeding of long strips of recordmaterial.

With these and incidental objects in view, the

invention includes certain novel features of con- 'struction andcombinations of parts, the essen-' the drawing which accompanies andforms a open, by a plurality of of pressure rollers part of thisspecification.

In the drawing: I Fig. 1 is a perspective view, illustrating themechanism constituting this invention, said mechanism including a platenroll, 'aplurality rial fed by said platen and said pressure rollers.Fig. 2 is a detail view of a modified form of pressure roller whichembodies a difierent type of spring for frictionally connecting saidpressure The machineembodying the instant-invention provided with alaterally shiftable traveling carriage similar to that used presentingvarious kinds of record material to the printing means. This travelingcarriage supports the usual platen roll for feeding the recordassociated therewith and nonpositively driven thereby, and the recordmate- 7 on typewriters. for

material, and at the discretion of the purchaserp said platen roll maybe provided with automatic throat-opening mechanism, which shifts saidplaten roll from printing to front feeding position, to facilitate theinsertion or removal of,

are printed in duplicate upon a tally strip or journal sheet, thusproviding a permanent record,

in duplicate, of all accounts, for future reference.

In systems such as these, the'ledger sheets are usually inserted in andremoved from the open throat of the front feed platen while the tallystrip or journal sheet and its superimposed carbon paper remain in placearound the platen,

being held against displacement by a plurality of overhanging pressurerollers, which remain in engagement with the platen roll when it is ineither front feeding or printing position.

Often hundreds of ledger sheets are audited during a single businessperiod, and as all the entries thereon are duplicated upon the journalsheet it is quite obvious that the journal sheet would have to be ofconsiderable length in order to accommodate all such entries. Afterprinting has been completed on each line, the platen roll isautomatically revolved to line-space the ledger and journal sheets. Inthe case of the ledger sheet, where only a few lines at the most areprinted upon, little trouble is experienced in the feeding thereof.However, in the case of the tally strip or journal sheet; where oftenmany feet thereof are fed in this manner, any variation in the thicknessof said journal sheet or any unevenness in the platen roll or pressurerollers has a tendency to make said journal sheet feed to one side andcrowd into the paper guides and Jam to such an extent that the feedingthereof is greatly hindered, or in some cases, al-

together terminated. Moreover, the aging of the platen roll and theaccompanying hardening of the surface thereof prevent said platen rollfrom properly gripping the paper to be fed thereby,

which often results in serious irregularities in the feeding of saidpaper.

Again, opening and closing of the front feed throat and the accompanyingreleasing and engaging of the main pressure rollers may cause a slightbulge or slackness in the joumal sheet, between the main pressurerollers and the auxiliary or overhanging pressure rollers, whichlikewise may seriously impair the feeding of said Journal sheet.Likewise, the pressure rollers, which under the influence of springtension hold the record material in resilient engagement with the platenroll, may, due to any distortion or sluggishness in revolving thereof,seriously The paper feeding mechanism outlined above,

will now be described in detail.

The machine of the instant invention has a platen roll ||I (Fig. 1)supported by. the framework of a-traveling carriage of the typedisclosed in Letters Patent of the United States No. 2,082,098, issuedJunel, 1937, to R. A. Christian. and the co-pending application of R. A.Christian, filed January 2'7, 1933, Serial Number 653,838. The platen I9is fast on a shaft ll, journaled in arms (not shown) supported by thetraveling carriage framework, and said shaft carries a knob i2. ateither-end thereof, only one here shown, for manually rotating theplaten roll. Secured on the left end of the platen roll i9 is a gear l3,slightly larger in diameter than said platen roll, the teeth of saidgear meshing with a pinion I4, secured on the left-hand end of apressure roller shaft IS. The shaft I5 is journaled in bushings carriedby similar arms l6 and H, pivoted respectively to brackets l8 and I9,secured on the top surface of a record material guide table 29,supported by the traveling carriage framework and adapted to guiderecord material underneath and around the platen roll l9.

impair the feeding of long strips of paper, such as Journal sheets ortally strips.

In order to overcome the difllculties outlined above, the auxiliary oroverhanging pressure rollers of the machine embodying the instantinvention, in addition to being yieldingly retained in engagement withthe surface of the Free on the shaft l5 are a plurality of pressurerollers 2|, each roller retained between two compressible springs 22,which, in cooperation with their respective adjustable collars,23,frictionally connect said pressure rollers 2| to said shaft 22. Thecollars 23 are held in place on the shaft l5 by means of set screws,thereby providing a means for varying the tension of the springs 22, toobtain the proper frictional connection between said shaft l5 and thepressure rollers 2|. Springs 24 and 25, connected between the arms l9and I1, and their respective brackets l8 and I9, urge said arms and theshaft l5 counterclockwise or downwardly 'to maintain the pressurerollers 2| in yielding engagement with the surface of the platen rolll9, and to retain the pinion H in mesh with the gear i3.

One form of record material used in the present machine is a wide tallystrip 26, a supply roll 21 of which is supported by a reel 28, mountedbetween end plates 29 and 30 of the tally roll framework, said endplates being supported by the cross rods 2| and 92, in turn supported bythe traveling carriage framework, and by a tearing blade 32, thebent-over ends of which are secured to said plates 29 and 30.

The web of the tally strip 26, guided by the .table 29, is firstthreaded underneath and around smaller in diameter than the pressurerollers 2|,

have a tendency, upon rotation of said platen roll II, to revolve thepressure rollers 2| at a greater speed than the surface speed of 'saidplaten II. This results in a gain or take-up movement of said pressurerollers, which immediately takes up any slack in the web of the tellystrip 22, and very effectively assists inthe feeding of said tally stripby said platen roll; The

frictional or non-positive feeding movement of the pressure rollers 2|likewise compensates for any irregularities in the surface of the platenll or in the pressure rollers themselves, thus effectlng accurateandpositive feeding of long portions of said tally strip 26 without anytendency whatever to slip, jam, buckle or skew to one side. Journalsheets are used in a similar manner to the tally strip 26, the onlydifference beingthat the journal sheets are usually much wider than thetally strip, sometimes being the full width of the platen, and insteadof being contained in a supply roll are usually manifolded in accordionfashion and fed from a supply source, around the platen roll, and into areceptacle. As a rule, both the tally strip 28 and the journal sheetshave their superimposed carbon paper, so that all entries made upon thevarious ledger sheets or statement slips will be duplicated thereon.

Modified form of pressure roll Fig. 2 illustrates a modified form ofpressure roller,'the only difference between this form and the preferredform being the method of applying the spring tension between thepressure roller and the shaft which supports it, to frictionally connectthese parts. Referring to Fig. 2, apressure roller 34, similar in everyrespect to the pressure rollers 2| of the preferred form, is integralwith a bushing 35, having fast in each end thereof similar rings 36,which in cooperation with a pressure roller shaft 38, similar in everyrespect to the shaft l of the preferred form, form a bearing for saidpressure roller 34. Split retaining rings 31, in cooperation withgrooves in the shaft 38, retain the pressure roller 34 in properlocation on said shaft. While only one is here shown and described,there are several of the pressure rollers 34 spaced at regular intervalsalong'the shaft 38.

Referring to Figs. 2 and 3, frictional engagement is maintained betweenthe pressure roller 34 and the shaft 38 by a formed spring 38, whichfits between said shaft and the bushing 35 in a cavity-or recess formedby the rings 36 and said bushing 35. The spring 39 may easily beadjusted to obtain the proper frictional engagement between the pressureroller 34 and the shaft 38, or as an alternative more than one springmay be.used toobtain the proper degree of friction.

The, modified form shown in Figs. 2 and 3, in effect produces the samresults as the preferred form with the advantage that there are noexposed coil springs to collect dust and erasing crumbs, and there areno exposed spring ends which may interfere with the feeding of therecord material, or injure the operators hands; this latter possibilityoccurring when it is necessary for the operator to move the pressurerollers out of engagement with the platen It by grasping the shaft andswinging said shaft and the arms l6 and 11 over in a clockwise directionin order to replace the tally strip or ioumal sheet.

It will be observed that the pinion I4 is yieldingly maintained inengagement with the gear l3 by the action of the springs 24 and 25, thusproviding a valuable safety feature which permits said pinion It to rideout of the teeth of the gear l3 in case some foreign substance isaccidentally or inadvertently caught between said teeth, therebyeliminating the possibility of damage to either the foreign substance orthe presfor it is susceptible of embodiment in various 76 .of saidrecord material. 2. In a machine of the class described, the

forms all coming within the scope of the claim which follow.

What is claimed is:

1. In a machine of the character described, the combination of arevolvable platen roll; a plurality of pressure rollers, which, incooperation with the platen roll, form a meansfor feeding recordmaterial; a shaft to rotatably support the pressure rollers; springmembers forming a frictional connection between each of the pressurerollers individually and the shaft; a gear connected to the platen roll,the pitch diameter of said gear larger than said platen roll: a pinionconnected to the shaft, the pitch diameter of said pinion smaller thanthe pressure rollers; and

means to yieldingly maintain the pinion in mesh with the gear and thepressure rollers in contact with the platen, so that rotation of said.platen roll will yieldingly urge said pressure rollers individually torotate in a feeding direction, at a speed greater than the surface speedof said platen roll to facilitate the feeding combination of arevolvable platen roll for the feeding of record material: a shaft; aplurality of pressure rollers, each having a bushing integral therewithfor rotatably supporting said pressure roller on the shaft, each of saidbushings having a relieved portion adjacent to said shaft; a formedspring member, one or more of which is adapted to fit in each of therelieved portions of a bushing to form a frictional connection betweenthe shaft and the associated pressure roller; means, including a gearintegral with the platen roll and a pinion integral with the shaft,

record material; a shaft; a gear connected .to the platen roll; a pinionconnected to the shaft and adapted to mesh with theegear; a plurality ofpressure rollers, comprising bushings integral therewith for rotatablysupporting said pressure rollers on the shaft; a relieved portion ineach ofthe bushings forming annular cavities between each of saidbushings and the shaft? a formed spring adapted to be retained in eachof the cavities to effect a frictional'connection between the-shaft andthe pressure rollers; and yieldable means to retain the pinion in meshwith the gear and to retain the pressure rollers in contact with theplaten roll, whereupon feeding movement of said platen roll,,due to theratio of the gear and the pinion causes the shaft to urge each of the'pressure rollers individually to rotate in a feeding direction at aspeed greater than the surface speed of'the platen roll to insure properfeeding of the record material.

4. In a machine of the character described, the combination of arotatable platen roll; a shaft; a plurality of pressure rollers, eachhaving a bushing integral therewith for rotatably supporting saidpressure roller on said shaft; a relieved portion in each of thebushings, each of said relieved portions forming a... cavity between theshaft and the associated bushing: springs formed of long strips out offlat stock, one or more of said springs adapted to fit in each of thecavities to form a frictional connection between the shaft and theassociated pressure roller; resilient means to hold roll, to drive theshaft at the proper speed to non-positively urge each of the pressurerollers individually to rotate in a feeding direction at a speed greaterthan the surface speed of the the pressure rollers in contact with theplaten 5 platen roll to insure the proper feeding of. long roll to forma feeding means for record material;

and means, effective upon rotation of the platen strips of said recordmaterial.

CLARENCE J. IRA.

